Latest news with #IndiaChinaRelations
BBC News
6 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Indian resumes visas for Chinese tourists after five-year gap
India has resumed issuing tourist visas to Chinese nationals after a five-year gap as the two countries continue to explore ways to mend their strained Indian embassy in Beijing made the announcement on Wednesday via the Chinese social media app Weibo, the state-owned Global Times newspaper foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the development was a "positive move" and added that China was willing to work with India to improve the "facilitation of people-to-people exchanges".India suspended visas to China, restricted investments and banned several Chinese apps after the 2020 military clashes in Galwan Valley killed at least 20 Indian soldiers. The site of the clash was on the de facto border - the Line of Actual Control or LAC - between the two countries. India and China share a border that is more than 3,440km (2,100 miles) long and have overlapping territorial two countries had suspended flights and visa services to each other during the pandemic and they remained halted as political tensions skyrocketed in the summer of 2020 following the relations have gradually improved. From 2022, China began resuming visa services for Indians and there has been a further upswing since a round of high-level talks between the two sides last Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Brics summit in Russia last year, where the two leaders agreed to boost communication to resolve conflicts and improve June, India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met China's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Sun Weidong in Delhi, where the two discussed resuming direct flights, sharing data on transnational rivers and improving "people-centric engagements".This year between January and April, China issued 85,000 visas to their Weibo post on Wednesday, the Indian embassy said Chinese citizens could begin applying for tourist visas from 24 July in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, in South China's Guangdong move comes ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defence summit, set to be held in China in reports have speculated that Modi may attend the summit. If he does, it will be his first visit to the country since the 2020 clashes.
Free Malaysia Today
7 days ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
India to resume issuing tourist visas to Chinese citizens
Relations have gradually improved, including talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Russia. (EPA Images pic) HONG KONG : India will resume issuing tourist visas to Chinese citizens from July 24 this year, its embassy in China said today, the first time in five years as both countries move to repair their rocky relationship. Tensions between the two countries escalated following a 2020 military clash along their disputed Himalayan border. In response, India imposed restrictions on Chinese investments, banned hundreds of popular Chinese apps and cut passenger routes. China suspended visas to Indian citizens and other foreigners around the same time due to the Covid-19 pandemic but lifted those restrictions in 2022, when it resumed issuing visas for students and business travellers. Tourist visas for Indian nationals remained restricted until March this year, when both countries agreed to resume direct air service. Relations have gradually improved, with several high-level meetings taking place last year, including talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Russia in October. China's foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said today that Beijing had noted the positive move. 'China is ready to maintain communication and consultation with India and constantly improve the level of personal exchanges between the two countries,' he said. India and China share a 3,800km border that has been disputed since the 1950s. The two countries fought a brief but brutal border war in 1962 and negotiations to settle the dispute have made slow progress. In July, India's foreign minister told his Chinese counterpart that both countries must resolve border friction, pull back troops and avoid 'restrictive trade measures' to normalise their relationship.
Russia Today
7 days ago
- Business
- Russia Today
India to restart tourist visas for Chinese citizens
In a sign of warming ties between New Delhi and Beijing, India has said it will restart issuing tourist visas to Chinese citizens after a five-year pause. The restrictions were imposed during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, and continued after relations between the countries became strained due to a deadly border clash in the Himalayas in 2020. 'From July 24, 2025, Chinese citizens can apply for a tourist visa to visit India,' the Indian Embassy said in a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo. Beijing has long requested the reissuing of visas to its citizens, in addition to restarting direct flights between India and mainland China, which were also suspended in 2020. BRICS on Holiday! India to Welcome Back Chinese Tourists for First Time in Five Years!Visas will be issued for Chinese citizens from Thursday, India's embassy in China has announced. It marks another positive step towards mending relations after a military clash along the… 'Easing cross-border travel is widely beneficial,' the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. 'China will maintain communication and consultation with India to further facilitate travel between the two countries.' Efforts to normalize ties between the two countries began in October last year, after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks on the sidelines of the 2024 BRICS summit in Kazan. Both leaders gave their nod to follow an agreement to disengage from areas of tension and a commitment to work towards restoring relations. Following multiple rounds of military and diplomatic talks, certain proposals to ease trade and investment restrictions between India and China have gained momentum, driven by industry demands. Earlier this month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, at a meeting in Beijing with his Indian counterpart, S. Jaishankar, said, 'Since our leaders' meeting in October 2024, the relationship has been gradually moving in a positive direction.' In June, a group of Indians crossed over into Tibet for the Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra, one of the holiest pilgrimages in Hinduism. The pilgrimage, which traverses two sacred sites, was also resumed after a five-year hiatus. Last week, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Beijing is ready to enhance trilateral cooperation with New Delhi and Moscow.
Khaleej Times
7 days ago
- Business
- Khaleej Times
India to resume issuing tourist visas to Chinese citizens from July 24
India will resume issuing tourist visas to Chinese citizens from July 24 this year, its embassy in China said on Wednesday, the first time in five years as both countries move to repair their rocky relationship. Tensions between the two countries escalated following a 2020 military clash along their disputed Himalayan border. In response, India imposed restrictions on Chinese investments, banned hundreds of popular Chinese apps and cut passenger routes. China suspended visas to Indian citizens and other foreigners around the same time due to the COVID-19 pandemic but lifted those restrictions in 2022, when it resumed issuing visas for students and business travellers. Tourist visas for Indian nationals remained restricted until March this year, when both countries agreed to resume direct air service. Relations have gradually improved, with several high-level meetings taking place last year, including talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Russia in October. China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Wednesday that Beijing had noted the positive move. "China is ready to maintain communication and consultation with India and constantly improve the level of personal exchanges between the two countries," he said. India and China share a 3,800 km (2,400-mile) border that has been disputed since the 1950s. The two countries fought a brief but brutal border war in 1962 and negotiations to settle the dispute have made slow progress. In July, India's foreign minister told his Chinese counterpart that both countries must resolve border friction, pull back troops and avoid "restrictive trade measures" to normalise their relationship.
Arab News
7 days ago
- Business
- Arab News
India to resume issuing tourist visas to Chinese citizens
HONG KONG: India will resume issuing tourist visas to Chinese citizens from July 24 this year, its embassy in China said on Wednesday, the first time in five years as both countries move to repair their rocky relationship. Tensions between the two countries escalated following a 2020 military clash along their disputed Himalayan border. In response, India imposed restrictions on Chinese investments, banned hundreds of popular Chinese apps and cut passenger routes. China suspended visas to Indian citizens and other foreigners around the same time due to the COVID-19 pandemic but lifted those restrictions in 2022, when it resumed issuing visas for students and business travelers. Tourist visas for Indian nationals remained restricted until March this year, when both countries agreed to resume direct air service. Relations have gradually improved, with several high-level meetings taking place last year, including talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Russia in October. China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Wednesday that Beijing had noted the positive move. 'China is ready to maintain communication and consultation with India and constantly improve the level of personal exchanges between the two countries,' he said. India and China share a 3,800 km (2,400-mile) border that has been disputed since the 1950s. The two countries fought a brief but brutal border war in 1962 and negotiations to settle the dispute have made slow progress. In July, India's foreign minister told his Chinese counterpart that both countries must resolve border friction, pull back troops and avoid 'restrictive trade measures' to normalize their relationship.
